Gen IBM Haruna, retd, was born on July 24, 1940, in Maiduguri. He was a Federal Commissioner for Information and Culture between 1975 and 1977.

He was also the Chairman, Executive Council, of Arewa Consultative Forum from 2009 to 2012. He holds the traditional title of Walin Garkida. 

He was among the first 30 recruits enrolled into the Boys Company (later known as the Nigerian Military School) in 1954. They were known as the “First Platoon”.In 1958, IBM Haruna went to Regular Officers’ Special Training School, Teshi, Ghana and later to Mons Officers’ Cadet School, Aldershot, England (1959).

He was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1961 upon his graduation as a member of RMA 27 of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, United Kingdom. 

As the Federal Commissioner for Information and Culture, he established the National Television Authority (NTA) in 1975 and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he also advocated for the Press Council of Nigeria. He attended UNESCO Conference on Culture Accra-Ghana (1975) and NonAligned Nations Conference, New Delhi, India (1976). 

He left the Nigerian Army as a Major General in 1977. 

He was also the Chairman at Nigeria’s Participation in Africa’s Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC 1977);[Chairman of Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos (1978-1985); Chairman, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos (1985-1992) Board of Governors; Member, Constitutional Conference (1988–89); Short term Chairman of Nigerian Railway Reform Committee (1992); a Member of the 19-Member Committee for the National Constitutional Conference Commission, under the Chairmanship of Justice Kawu, (1994); Advocate of Arewa consultative Forum (ACF) at the Oputa Panel (2005); Chairman, Executive Council, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) (2009-2012). 

He is a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He is also a Notary Public of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management.